Stepping Up
by Deakon Stroud
Summary: Sean, new in Orlando has to adjust to city life, while attempting to look after his family.
1. Chapter 1

Never back down 

Chapter 1 

"Sean time for school, wake up." Wake up? Id been staring at the ceiling for the better part of an hour now, but I called back. "Ok, I'm up!" Anyway, I got up, pulled on my jeans and with a feeling that today was going to be one hell of an awkward day, I walked downstairs. I was the new kid, an outsider if you will, but maybe I was just over reacting and today would be ok. I mean how bad could school be? The nerves weren't nearly as bad as my first boxing match that was for sure. I nearly hurled the first time from nerves alone.

I sat beside Johnny – my younger brother - on the bus. Although I was older than him, in the last two years he had put some size on him, he was easily 200 pounds and 5 foot 11. He didn't want to move to Orlando; he had to leave the girls he was going casual with back home, as well as his best friends. I decided I'd talk to him a bit, help him adjust. "Hey Johnno," a grunt was my reply. "Can you not speak English?" I felt like punching the guy.

"What" I heard the irritation in his voice, and the look he darted my way were like daggers. He was always grumpy in the morning, especially with me.

"Just thought you should know there's this cute thing in the back off the bus looking at you man," That caught his attention.

He turned his neck so quick I heard it crack. "Oh man she's hot, look at them Babylon's." He sounded happy.

I took a closer look at the girl, damn was she hot, she had black hair, green eyes and a great body, but although she was good looking back, she seemed to know it to. "Johnno where here man."

We had just arrived at a large white building that was obviously a high school, there where loads of teenagers running around and hollering at each other. I started to feel the nerves now, unfortunately. My palms started to sweat and my mouth went dry, but I begrudgingly got off the bus with Johnny. "Here we go." I said it more to myself than I did to Johnny. He agreed with a stern nod of his head.

"Sean?"

"What Johnno?" I replied casually, looking from one teenage face to another. The place was practically packed!

"Why didn't Sarah and Jessica come on the bus?"

I answered as truthfully as I could. "Since Sarah learned how to drive she has just thought that buses are for peasants and if she drives to school she gets more time to lye in her bloody bed." I wasn't happy about that fact. I deserved my own bed more than my sister at times, heck most of the time.

"Damn she is annoying" We laughed and I felt my nerves ease a little. Only a little bit though. I was still in a hostile area, I was still an outsider. It felt as thought their eyes were trying to boar a hole in my back.

* * *

After going to the school office and picking up my timetable, I was totally lost and although I got to my first class which was history on time, the teacher made me introduce myself to the class, which was pretty awkward, but at least its lunch now and I am starving. I rarely eat breakfast. I follow the rest of the kids and assume there going to the Canteen. Boy was I wrong.

I see Johnny outside talking to the Girl we had seen on the bus and she appeared to be smiling. Ah baby brother following in my footsteps already… I smiled to myself, happy that his day was going well. Pity mine couldn't take a turn for the better.

"Hey man isnt that your girl talking to that Puto" I turn around to see three guys standing about two metres away from me. One is Latino the other two are Caucasian.

"Hey man there just talking it isn't a big deal" said one of the Caucasian guys who had dark black hair and a weight lifters build, but right then the girl Johnny was talking to gave him a piece of paper with what looked like her number on it and then flirtatiously touched his forearm.

The last Caucasian jumped to his feet and made a straight line towards Johnny, a look on his face which told me his exact intentions and although Johnny was a big guy, this guy was 6 foot 3 and had a lot of girth to him. He looked like he weighed at least 265 pounds. Wanting to avoid trouble I moved as quickly as I could without drawing attention to myself and stepped in front of this behemoth and asked politely "Hey man can you tell me where room 22 is please?"

He shoved past me moving quickly and I followed him. He reached the door and stormed out, closing the gap between himself and Johnno extremely quickly. I rushed forward and throw my leg out; and BOOM!! He went down faster than a cheap date!

The entire room went as silent as a tomb. If I thought their eyes bored at my back before, they were drilling now. _Oh shit. What the hell am I doin'? This guy's built like a shit brick-house!_ He jumped up faster than I could've thought for a man of his bulk and turned bearing down on me looking like an angel of death, I froze heart pumping adrenaline running wild, crunch!! He hit me with a hard right hook, the hit bringing me back to my senses.

I simply stood their gaping a second, and then the anger took hold. I reacted…

BOOM! BOOM! My hands flew quickly, jab, jab, hook a short whoosh as I breathed out and inhaled again. His head flew back and his nose spurted blood. CRUNCH! My left handed uppercut connects, he staggers back instead of pressing forward and I hang back hoping he has had enough. I should have known better.

He gains control, blood dripping down his chin, my knuckles are throbbing, my pulse racing as the behemoth charged! I plant my right foot back and push my right hand forward, it connects but he has built too much momentum his arms catch my waist and we crash into a table, the occupants scatter in a mad dash to get away.

I'm half lying on the table; he is above me his arm flies back. CRUNCH!! My heads almost taken off my shoulders by his haymaker, I feel dizzy, nauseous, but I feel fear making me want to freeze and adrenaline pushing me to fight, planting my left foot in his immense gut I push hard.

He goes back and I charge forward, no longer doing what I was taught in boxing. I'm brawling, mad swings hitting his arms, chest and head. I back up and breathe, my left hand flies. BOOM!! I connect his jaw his head spins and the rest of his body follows.

* * *

Thanks for reading. If you can, then drop me a review.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

Never back down 

"How could you be so stupid," It was more of a statement than a question Sean thought to himself, his Da had been going on for the better part of 15 minutes. _Give over already, old man._

"Your first day and your fighting, you're _so_ lucky you weren't suspended! Thank God the principle decided not to," He has been making the same goddamn point for the last 10 minutes, damn him, _jeez give it a rest already._ I thought.

"Dad look, he was going to hit Johnny. I had to do something, ok? You want me to let that 265 pound walrus roll over him?" He looked like a man who was trying to find a way to argue a good point.

"That isn't the point Sean!!" he was raising his voice now and I felt my own temper rising. My dad always had a knack for annoying the piss out of me.

"It is exactly the point," I shiuted back. "If he had of hit Johnny id have buried him, I made a pre-emptive strike." The barely contained anger in my voice was close to breaking through, I wanted to jump up and start screaming at him for being such an idiot. Thankfully, I managed to resist the temptation.

"Sean the first day of school and you're…" ,_Here we go again..._

"SHUT UP!!" I jumped up my heart racing with anger, my hands sweaty and fists clenched. My dad wore a mask of complete calm, but he was probably as pissed off as I was.

I leap to my feet and stormed past the unpacked boxes in the hallway, past my sisters and Mother who wore faces of complete shock that I would talk to my father that way. I smashed the back door open and walk out into the cool night air, hoping it could cool my temper as much as it did my skin.

* * *

20 minutes later

What had I done? Why would I speak to my dad that way? He had to come out of work on his first day to make sure I didn't get expelled and I just treated him like he was nothing, the guilt made my stomach feel queasy and I felt like throwing up. I was disgusted with myself. I had been pacing around the small back yard for a while and had taken a seat on the backdoor step.

"Can I take a seat here?" the sound of the voice intruding on my shameful silence made me jump!

"Oh, hey dad" I couldn't look him in the eye, though. He eased himself down on the step beside me, like myself, he had dark brown hair, green eyes and dimples when he smiled.

I sighed before speaking, hoping it could give me a minute to collect my thoughts. "I want to apologize, dad. I shouldn't have talked to you like that." My voice portrayed the shame I felt, my dad noticed it, heck I was surprised the whole street didn't notice.

"Its ok son, I shouldn't have reacted like that. It's been the stress of the move, I've been on edge recently and you fighting just gave me an excuse to vent it."

"You do understand why I would hit that guy though, right?"

"Of course I do son, I just don't want you fighting unless you have to…"

"…and I understand that you had to fight, son." It was clear he didn't like admitting it, but he knew I wouldn't fight without good reason but me fighting outside the ring wasn't common. I rarely had to fight as I tried to avoid trouble at all costs and tried to get on with everyone. Sometimes without much success though.

"But if I where you I wouldn't have gotten hit, I mean one punch from me and he would've been spark out." I smiled; the sarcasm in his voice was laced on thickly.

"Oh yeah, sure, one punch? I don't think so old man." The sarcasm in my voice had been laced on just as thick as his was.

"I may be old, but I can still run rings around you sunny-Jim" at that he jumped up and started doing the Ali dance, he back pedalled and CRUNCH!! He had moved back, jumped and smacked his head of the window sill!

I roared with laughter while he jumped around swearing, after about 40 seconds tears started coming out of my eyes and he joined in with me laughing. I struggled to mock him through my laughter but managed to say. "Oh….yeah…you would've… clobbered me."

* * *

2 weeks later

School was difficult after the fight for the first few days, everyone wanted to know who this 200 pound brown haired guy who had laid out the 265 pound behemoth was, who turned out to be called Darren Smith, but Darren kept his distance as he was warned by the Principle that any more fights and he was suspended, but that didn't stop him staring daggers at me every time he seen me in the hall. I was paranoid first time back in school as I thought he would try and get revenge, and although I had beat him he was ready to fight some more, heck, the guys confidence wasn't hurt one bit. But I knew things where looking up when Johnny got invited to a party by a pretty hot girl and I was asked to tag along. _Good things do happen after all. _I thought dryly.

* * *

"Man look at this house" Johnny's eyes where wide open with shock.

"It's not a house, it's a mansion." I was equally shocked by the size of the house, but more by the cars in the drive way there was an Aston Martin DB9, a Mustang GT, but the best of the lot was a Lancer Evo, at least in my opinion. "You must be Sean?"

"What?" the unknown speaker taking me out of my admiration of the impressive collection.

"Behind you," I swivelled round and my eyes bulged. The person talking to me was a 5 foot 6, blond haired babe; she gave me a smile that I hastily returned.

"Why hello, how are you?" I wasn't thinking of what to say. I always just spoke and it seemed to work out a bit, kinda like an instinct, I was still smiling. I thought to myself, _damn she is hot_.

"I'm fine, thank you." The tone of her voice told me she was embarrassed, I didn't know why; she was the hottest girl I had seen so far.

"So, who invited you to the party?" I asked casually not wanting to seem too eager.

"Well my sister organised it, so, I thought since there's a party going on in my house, I may as well take part." _Sweet_, I thought to myself. Not only is she hot, she's rich! What a touch.

"You want to show me around?" I asked casually, the cockiness in my voice apparent and the smile on my face made her smile.

"Sure, cowboy"

"Cowboy?" I said with a smile. "If I had of known that you thought I was a cowboy I would've brought my hat and leather pants."

She giggled at my joke, _awesome_ I might get lucky tonight, ha-ha.

* * *

After showing me the house which had its own indoor swimming pool and games room, had I not been with a hottie I would've beat the high score on Pac-man, but I followed her around and she seemed to like my cocky attitude.

"And this is the garden" I surveyed the area, there was four tables laden with plastic cups filled with some sort of cheap beer and easily a dozen kegs around the place, like at all parties there are always people who have too much and ruin it for everyone, one dude had thrown up in the Jacuzzi, another was passed out, and another was grabbing girls in certain places, "What's your name by the way?" I had totally forgotten to ask her, damn it what a douche I am, I thought.

"It's Annabel"

"Pretty name for a pretty lady, huh" She laughed.

"You're a right charmer, Sean." she said rounding on me.

"Yeah and my mum always says I'm special." she laughed again, she took another step closer to me. She was so close now, she wasn't nervous or embarrassed anymore, we locked eyes she put her hands on my chest and shoved me back gently. I hit the back of her garden wall and next thing we kissed. My adrenaline went crazy, my heart pumped faster and I kissed her back, my hands of there own accord went to her waist. I pulled her closer her lips where soft and tasted of strawberries, we broke and my pulse was still racing, I smiled at her she returned it.

"Get the hell of me you perv!!" I looked to where the noise came from. The drunk who had been feeling girls up had just grabbed another girl and I couldn't believe it.

"Holy shit, that's Jessica!" I gently pushed Annabel aside and charged forward. I cleared the space between us in seconds; I grabbed the drunk and roughly threw him off Jessica. I grabbed the drunk and pulled him towards me, the anger at this drunken fool groping my sister made me want to rip his throat out!

"If you ever touch another member of my family again you no good bastard, you will have me to deal with, you got that?" The venom in my voice was coming through, I was snarling at him! He was petrified; the urge to beat him to a pulp was growing.

"NOW GET OUT!!" I threw him towards the entrance. The whole party was looking at me, eyes staring in disbelief that I would do that. Heck, let them stare. I didn't care.

"Jess, are you ok?" I rounded on Jessica. I was concerned but also pissed off. Why was she here?

"I'm fine Sean" her voice was shaky and so was she, she was in shock.

"Ok go and wait in the car and..."

"HEY!!" I was interrupted before I could finish, I turned round to see who made the noise and seen a young man roughly my age with dark skin and dreadlocks, he was looking directly at me, lurking behind Dreadlocks was the drunk who I had threatened.

"What do you want, man?" I wasn't being aggressive I just needed to get Jess home; and where the hell was Johnny.

"You attack my friend, by any chance?" his voice was filled with aggression. I felt queasy, it looked like a fight. My body was preparing for fight or flight and I hated the feeling, I seemed to lose all power in my legs and arms and struggled to form any coherant reply.

"He was groping my sister man, I had to do something." I was trying to reason but he wasn't having it. I was terrified and my heart was racing, but in a bad way I had to try and remain calm. He was advancing on me now I felt the fear building. Shit! Id frozen up! I was bigger, but this guy wasn't scrawny and he was a good build.

"I don't care if he touched yo slut of a sister…"

"HEY YOU LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!" The adrenaline had kicked in and after insulting my sister I felt rage and fear building, it was like they where racing to see which would control me. The burst in energy was titanic. Jess simply looked on in shock, she couldn't deal with this right now. Annabel also just looked on, she looked mad but I didn't care.

"What did you say to me?" the look of anger on his face was a rival to mine.

"Did I stutter motha fucka?" I wasn't afraid now. I was too angry to feel my heart pulsing, my hands sweating, anticipating the fight to come; onlookers watched me and my opponent looking each other down like lions ready to tear each other apart.

He charged forward. Good, I was tired of waiting. I charged and THUD!! We collided, grappling with each other, pushing, swearing his hands pulled my head down and CRACK his knee met my chin, my vision blurred and pain shot through my body, he brought his knee back again, THUD!! "Arggh" the wind whooshed out of my body, It collided with my ribs, I quickly hooked my arm around his knee, he was only standing on one foot now. I was breathless but I grabbed the back of his dreadlocks and wrenched his head back, his grip on my head loosened, throwing my head back. I forced it forward...and crunch!! Are foreheads collided, he went limp, but the anger pushed me on. I grabbed the back of his jacket, still holding his right knee and lifted him off the ground, my muscles threatened to cramp, the strain increasing my already heavy breathing, but with tremendous effort I swivelled round and saw a drinks table. I heaved him up as high as I could, sweat coating my body and I brought him into the table with a CRASH!! The table buckled under our combined weight, I let go off my opponent, he was barely stirring, writhing in pain. I was victorious, I wanted to raise my hands and roar.

CRACK!! My world went dizzy. I felt my body go forward and I glimpsed something diamond-like fly all around me, I tried to regain focus, adrenaline still pulsing through me. I staggered around, the drunk had hit me with a bottle. Blindly I charged forward like a bull and throw my right hand back, CRUNCH!! My haymaker hit with explosive power! I seen teeth fly out of his mouth, my hand was throbbing with pain but I didn't care. He was worse off than me. He was on the ground holding his mouth, writhing like a little bitch.


End file.
